Program directory · Canadian Heritage
Human Rights
- Department
- Canadian Heritage
- Program code
- BSG02 (CH)
- Core responsibility
- Diversity and Inclusion
- In Departmental Plans
- 2018-19 – 2026-27 · New since an earlier plan
What it does
Seeks to strengthen and maintain one of the core values relating to Canadian identity – the respect for human rights – by addressing barriers to active participation that arise from a lack of awareness, understanding and access to rights. Manages federal-provincial/territorial consultations and collaboration among governments in Canada with respect to the adherence to and domestic implementation of international human rights instruments, including intergovernmental coordination of Canada’s reporting obligations (reports, appearances and follow-up to treaty bodies’ recommendations). It organizes engagement sessions on these issues with civil society, Indigenous representatives and human rights commissions. Provides policy advice in developing Canada’s positions on emerging human rights issues and promotes human rights through the dissemination of relevant information. Through the Court Challenges Program, supports access to justice in order to assert and clarify human rights and official language rights that are guaranteed by the Constitution, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and the Official Languages Act. The Court Challenges Program funds cases of national significance that have the potential to create precedents (test cases).
Source: the department's Program Inventory, via GC InfoBase.
History and lineage
First appears in GC InfoBase's actual spending by program in 2018-19. The data does not record when a program was created; it may be older than its first appearance here, which is limited by the sources (program spending starts in 2010-11, Departmental Plans in 2018-19).
| Program | Relation | Years with data | Actual spending over those years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Human Rights | This program | 2018-19 – 2028-29 | $54.4M |
No earlier or later program in the same department has a similar name.
Significant changes in scope and budget
Detected from the data: renames between plans, programs it appears to replace, merge with or split into (matched by name), year-over-year changes in spending of at least 25% and $5M, or in employees of at least 20% and 25 FTEs, linked budget measures, and results indicators added or dropped.
| Year | What changed | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2022-23 | Indicators added: Percentage of program users, stakeholders and the legal community who agree that the Court Challenges Program (CCP) contributes to strengthening and clarifying human rights.; Number of people in Canada requesting human rights publications through the Government of Canada’s website on human rights. | Departmental Results Framework (GC InfoBase) |
| 2022-23 | Indicators dropped: Number of Canadians requesting human rights publications.; Program users, stakeholders and the legal community assert that rights have been strengthened as a result of the Court Challenges Program (CCP). | Departmental Results Framework (GC InfoBase) |
| 2023-24 | Indicators added: Number of human rights publications distributed through the Government of Canada’s website on human rights.; Number of visits to the Government of Canada’s website on human rights. | Departmental Results Framework (GC InfoBase) |
| 2023-24 | Indicators dropped: Number of people in Canada accessing the Government of Canada’s website on human rights.; Number of people in Canada requesting human rights publications through the Government of Canada’s website on human rights. | Departmental Results Framework (GC InfoBase) |
| 2026-27 | Indicators added: Number of funded cases that are before the courts, on appeal or that are legal interventions | Departmental Results Framework (GC InfoBase) |
| 2026-27 | Indicators dropped: Percentage of program users, stakeholders and the legal community who agree that the Court Challenges Program (CCP) contributes to strengthening and clarifying human rights. | Departmental Results Framework (GC InfoBase) |
| 2028-29 | Planned spending $6.8M, against $12.2M in 2027-28 (−44%). | Latest Departmental Plan |
Success criteria
The program's indicators from its department's Departmental Results Framework: the target set in each year's plan, and the result reported the following year. Source: GC InfoBase.
Historical: targets against results
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023-24 | ≥ 8,090 | 2024 | 3,289 The actual result for 2023-2024 are significantly lower than the target (8090). An explanation could be the interruption of the distribution of paper copies of the Charter between December 2022 and December 2023. The Charter was only available in paper format for 3 months in 2023-2024 as the distribution resumed in January 2024. | Not met |
| 2024-25 | ≥ 7,500 | 2025 | 5,016 The gap between the target and the result is most likely due to the fact that some users consult publications direclty on the UN’s online platforms. | Not met |
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023-24 | ≥ 350,000 | 2024 | 525,959 | Met |
| 2024-25 | ≥ 577,347 | 2025 | 432,010 The number of visits fluctuates from year to year depending on current events. Although the target was not met, the number of visits remains satisfactory. | Not met |
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022-23 | S.O. | 2023 | S.O. This information will be available in 2024, following the evaluation of the Court Challenges Program. | No result reported |
| 2023-24 | S.O. | — | — This information will be available in Fall 2024, following the publication of the evaluation of the Court Challenges Program | No result reported |
| 2024-25 | ≥ 77% | 2025 | — The number of responses to the survey is insuffisant to provide a meaningful result. This indicator will be removed in a future exercise. | No result reported |
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | ≥ 75,000 | 2019 | 390,429 | Met |
| 2019-20 | ≥ 100,000 | 2020 | 684,994 | Met |
| 2020-21 | ≥ 100,000 | 2021 | 864,417 | Met |
| 2021-22 | ≥ 100,000 | 2022 | 653,377 | Met |
| 2022-23 | ≥ 350,000 | 2023 | 214,247 While the results are below expectations, the Program will continue to monitor the performance of this indicator. | Not met |
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022-23 | ≥ 7,500 | 2023 | — The distribution of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Bill of Rights in hard copy format, is presently suspended. The Department invites Canadians to access and print copies of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Bill of Rights, available for download on our website. The PDF versions of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Canadian Bill of Rights can be found on Can… | No result reported |
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | ≥ 4,000 | 2019 | — No results reported. | No result reported |
| 2019-20 | ≥ 4,000 | 2020 | 5,718 | Met |
| 2020-21 | ≥ 4,000 | 2021 | 7,953 | Met |
| 2021-22 | ≥ 4,000 | 2022 | 10,957 | Met |
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | — | 2019 | — No results reported. | No result reported |
| 2019-20 | — | 2020 | — Information will be available in 2021-22. | No result reported |
| 2021-22 | ≥ 75% | 2022 | — Results are not yet available. The Program's first evaluation is scheduled for 2022-23. Results will be available during the next reporting exercise. | No result reported |
Current: the 2026-27 plan's targets
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 | ≥ 5,000 | 2027 | — | Planned |
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 | ≥ 397,404 | 2027 | — | Planned |
Future goals: targets due after 2026-27
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 | ≥ 71 | 2028 | — | Planned |
Spending and employees: planned against actual
Spending
Show the numbers
| Fiscal year | Planned | Actual |
|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | $6.2M | $6.3M |
| 2019-20 | $7.3M | $6.4M |
| 2020-21 | $7.7M | $7.5M |
| 2021-22 | $6.5M | $7.4M |
| 2022-23 | $5.6M | $5.6M |
| 2023-24 | $6.3M | $8.5M |
| 2024-25 | $12.1M | $12.7M |
| 2025-26 | $12.2M | — |
| 2026-27 | $12.2M | — |
| 2027-28 | $12.2M* | — |
| 2028-29 | $6.8M* | — |
Employees (FTEs)
Show the numbers
| Fiscal year | Planned | Actual |
|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | 12 | 12 |
| 2019-20 | 12 | 12 |
| 2020-21 | 14 | 16 |
| 2021-22 | 16 | 20 |
| 2022-23 | 15 | 14 |
| 2023-24 | 13 | 15 |
| 2024-25 | 15 | 15 |
| 2025-26 | 17 | — |
| 2026-27 | 19 | — |
| 2027-28 | 19* | — |
| 2028-29 | 19* | — |
Planned spending, plan by plan
Each row is one year's Departmental Plan and its forecast for the next three fiscal years; read a column down to see how the forecast for one year changed. The last row is what was actually spent. Click an amount for its source. Biggest changes in federal spending plans
| Plan | 2018-19 | 2019-20 | 2020-21 | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 | 2024-25 | 2025-26 | 2026-27 | 2027-28 | 2028-29 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 plan | $6,171,303 | $6,171,303 | $6,171,303 | ||||||||
| 2019-20 plan | $7,321,656 | $7,317,705 | $7,317,705 | ||||||||
| 2020-21 plan | $7,710,377 | $6,842,882 | $6,843,662 | ||||||||
| 2021-22 plan | $6,525,830 | $6,964,143 | $7,358,342 | ||||||||
| 2022-23 plan | $5,648,167 | $5,639,483 | $5,639,274 | ||||||||
| 2023-24 plan | $6,312,989 | $6,313,161 | $6,313,887 | ||||||||
| 2024-25 plan | $12,127,696 | $12,146,993 | $12,145,492 | ||||||||
| 2025-26 plan | $12,168,773 | $12,167,274 | $12,167,274 | ||||||||
| 2026-27 plan | $12,165,924 | $12,165,924 | $6,765,504 | ||||||||
| Actual | $6,339,993 | $6,417,006 | $7,490,187 | $7,352,566 | $5,622,158 | $8,496,129 | $12,690,807 |
Actual spending is from Departmental Results Reports and the Public Accounts, as published in GC InfoBase. FTEs are full-time equivalents.
